Bent but not broken
by kittycat1677
Summary: Jade was a former slave for the owner Gamzee. She was forced, as was all the other girls into it. Until Dave finally finds them and puts it to rest. What happens when the goon gets out and returns? Find out! The story is much better than the summary. I swear! Trigger warning: hits of rape and such. Please R&R. Rated T for words others. May post M related chapters later! Thanks!
1. Arresting the Creepy Clown Guy

**A/N: Hellllo! Not my first Fanfiction! But I feel very proud of it. There may be chapters in it that will be triggering for some people, warning you guys now, please don't be all mad and say I didn't mention it because I will mention it now and many times over. So please! Not too harsh! **

* * *

Chapter 1

Arresting the freaky clown guy

A blonde haired boy sat on a chair. Leaning back so his feet rested against the desk. His partner, and friend, stood in front of him. Her blood red glasses almost took up all of her forehead, which was shared with her bangs. Brown hair as long as her shoulders, it swept on either side of them. Her light brown skin almost sparkled in the light. He didn't have any love interest in her, she was his best friend for fucks sakes.

"Watcha got?" his voice was deep as he spoke. Slightly harsh, it was always this way to his coworkers. Even her.  
"Well," she said with a sinister smile, "We found Gamzee's hide out. A warehouse in the middle of the woods,"  
"How ironic," he muttered.  
"He's having his sales tonight. If we don't strike now, then we'll have to track them down again. It could be for months again," She was complaining again, which he hated.  
"Easy, we attack tonight. Round up the best 20 you got, roll out at 1600," he beamed, pushing himself from the desk and standing up.  
"Whatever you say, Dave," she said, smirking at him  
"Don't you pull that at me, get to work. We have woman to save,"  
This only wanted to make her smirk more. He glared and she could sense it. "Whatever you say, Dave," she said again, turning around to leave.  
"Terezi," Dave called before she could.  
"Hmmm?"  
"We're doing the right thing… right?"  
"Obviously, Dave. It'd be stupid to not. Besides, you've been on this guy's care for months. Its too late to back out now," and with that, she was gone.

Dave lazily strode over to his black leather jacket and grabbed his phone and keys off his desk. He shoved those both in his pocket and walked out of his office. Shutting the door behind him, the word _Strider_ painted on a sign. His last name, of course. It was his office

"Hey! Dave!" a voice called behind him. He knew that voice. One of his best friend's. The one who actually got him into the force. "You heading home?"  
"Nah, Egbert, I'm gonna go crack the Gamzee case. Know where that fucker is. Wanna come?"  
"Hell yes!" John jumped up and grabbed his coat  
"Not now, you idiot, at 4. We're leaving. Tz has already got back ups informed," Dave demanded.  
"Oh, well, I'll be ready then! Where are you headed?"  
"Lunch, its 1, and I'm a bit hungry,"

* * *

"You sure this is the place?" Dave whispered.  
"Well, it's the only shitty warehouse in the middle of the woods. I don't know, you tell me!" Terezi snapped quietly at him.  
"Okay okay," he looked ahead of him. The door of the ware house was pretty big. Because it was dark, he couldn't identify the color. Even if he couldn't, his dark shades were no help either. It made everything a hassle to see. But he could give two shits.

He glanced behind him. It was all on him now. He quickly cocked his gun and flicked it to the side. Signaling to move out. He pressed his ear against the door. All he heard was small amounts of whimpering and moans of pleasure. He raised an eyebrow. Almost immediately, there was a screaming voice. It was sounding like a girl. She was screaming help. Or stop, or both.

He had it, he knew it was the right place. He stuck his foot out and kicked at the doors. They swung open with so much force, they banged against the walls. This got everyone's attention. Even the helpless girls, naked and in chains on the floor. There was about 5 of them sitting on the floor and three trying to give pleasure to their owner. He took in the scene fast.

The walls were bright orange, but it seemed that there was indigo pain splattered all over the aluminum walls. There was light, but barely. It shined on the ceiling. Flickering every now and then. When his gaze shifted, looking upon the crates and boxes lining the back walls. It was dark in those areas. Which made the light area look somewhat the center of all madness. The warehouse was pretty big, able to hold just about anything if it would fit.

The middle was cleared out for the girls. They all looked terrified. Staring at him with what little hope was in their eyes. He saw their bruises, their scars, cuts, crimson blood. Two were huddling one another. It looked like nothing was going to get them apart. Except the man of the whole show. But, before he even made a step into the warehouse, he locked eyes with bright green ones. Shielded by greasy glasses.

He quickly glared at the man sitting on a couch as the three girls tried to pleasure him. He was completely naked, with his member out and about. Dave almost wanted to turn around and walk out of this room. Oh he was, and he was taking every last one of those girls with him.

"Gamzee Makara, you're under arrest for sexually assaulting many women," he said as he pointed his gun at the naked man with clown make up. Who the fuck wears clown make up like that? He for sure didn't know. And, to add, didn't care. "You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say can and will be held against you," he said this a million times to the criminals that he arrested over the years.

"Ahhhahaha, you motherfuckers made it! Thought you guys got stuck in traff-" he started, but was immediately quieted by Terezi. Her walking up to his face and pointing her gun at him. The things she can do when she's blind.

"Do us ALL a favor, and shut the fuck up," she said. "Or I will shoot,"

After that, the back up team came in, which was excellent because they brought warm blankets and water bottles. Always trust back up.

Dave walked over to his black car. Its sunroof was closed as it was fall and he didn't like leaves in his car. This car was technically his child. It was a 2006 mustang. Black with a crimson red line running from the trunk to the front of the car. He build, fixed and repainted the damn thing. He loved it. He leaned his hands on the red stripped hood. Letting a long sigh ripple though his throat. He closed his eyes and tried to smile. He did it. He brought down the fucker who caused so much pain and suffering to his town. He was going to jail. For a long long time.

But something in his gut twisted. Making him have a bad feeling about locking up the freaky clown paint guy away. He felt something bad was going to happen. But only, he couldn't recall what it was. And he knew for sure it was going to eat at him slowly until he figured it out.

"I know you have a bad feeling about this, and so do I," Terezi's voice came behind him. He jumped lightly, obviously deep in his thoughts. "We can just pray and hope for the best,"  
Dave turned around to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What? Pray, since when do you believe in god?"  
"Since this bullshit started!"  
"Chasing Gamzee?"  
"No shit,"  
"Ahh," Dave nodded his head, knowing he'd pass into enemy territory in Terezi's personal life. He sure as hell wasn't going any closer.  
"Look, don't think about it now. Why don't you just go talk to one of the girls. They need some words of encouragement," Terezi said as she flicked that brown hair of hers and walked over to a small looking girl. She had short black hair and wild forest green eyes. But not the same ones he locked with when he first came.

He sighed again and pushed off the hood of his car. Looking around the area. It was still dark and there was flashing blue and red everywhere. Lighting up the forest. He scanned the grounds. Looking at the other police officers talking to the girls. Trying to get names and such. It was a good start. He could make a friend. He continued to scan as he was met, yet again, with bright green eyes. It wasn't like a neon color green. But freshly grown grass green. Or Mint green or lime green. He could think of every type of green that would match her eyes. This wasn't helping at all. He noticed that there was no one over there, talking to her. She didn't even have a bottle of water. Well, excellent idea to go over to her. Wait, he was a cop, he already had an excuse.

He still took a water bottle over to her. It was a nice gesture, making her look up and taking it from him. Giving him a small nod. He fixed his leather jacket and knelt down to her. "Hey," he said, his voice was smooth and calming. It wasn't harsh or mean. He made sure of that.  
"H-hi…" she stammered, pulling the blanket over her shoulder. Obviously hiding the large purple mark. He noticed it, he sees everything. He was a fucking Strider for fuck sakes. He was as fast as his Bro when it came to these things.  
"What's your name?" he kept his voice calm and collected, just wanted this girl to trust him enough to just give him a name. So he wouldn't be calling her Beautiful Green Eyed girl.  
"J-jade…" she whispered softly. It was so soft that he could barely hear her. But he caught it perfectly.  
"Jade, like the gem," he cooed, only getting a small twitch of her mouth into a quick smile. Then it vanished in thin air. He wondered how he could keep it on her.  
"Yeah… I guess," Score! Not a one sentence answer or a stammer. He was getting somewhere.

He moved so he was sitting down right next to her. On the wet grass. It felt really fucking cold on his ass but he ignored it. He only continued to speak. "You look cold," well no shit it's autumn. "Do you want my jacket?" he asked. She shook her head lightly. "You sure?" still no. Well, Dave Strider was the one that would take no for an answer. He simply took off his jacket and set it on her shoulders. A weak smile quickly spread across her lips. "Warm now?"  
"A little," she answered  
"Well, I can get you some clothes. But you'll have to come in my car," he felt somewhat weird asking a girl he just met to come into his car. He was going to buy her clothes. So it wasn't a TOTAL bad thing.  
"Clothes sounds good,"  
"Awesome, do you like fast?" he leaned in with a bit of a smirk. And he gained a nod from her. "Hella sweet," he said, jumping up on his feet and extending a hand to her. She hesitated at first, only to slowly grasp hold of his hand. He pulled her up a bit too quickly because she stumbled and fall right into him.

Dave only chuckled and quickly caught her before she could fall any farther. Once she seemed to be stable on her feet, he let her go slowly. But she was hanging onto his arms so tightly that he sure as hell didn't want to let go of her. But, he simply leaned over to her ear and whispered. "You can call me Dave,"

He nodded at his car, signaling that it was his as he went over to take to Terezi. "Hey, shortie, you got a ride home?"  
"Why?" she turned around to face him  
"I have another person to take care of,"  
"Oh? Who?" she asked, a bit more interested.  
"Her name is Jade, and that's all you're getting,"  
"Always leave a girl wanting more, ey, Strider,"  
"Shut it, Pyrope," Dave snapped. "Anyway, find your own way home," he said as he turned on his heel and walked over to Jade. She was standing clueless at his car, staring at it pretty much.

He quickly unlocked it and opened the car door. She did the same as she slowly climbed in. She quickly covered herself with the blanket and his jacket. He noticed as he climbed into the driver's seat. "What is your taste in clothing?" he asked.  
"F-flowery?" she said, a bit shyly.  
"Alright, lets go looking, but first, I think I have something that would keep you covered at my place. If you want to go, that is." he said, feeling like suddenly he was going to fast for her comfort.  
"Uhh, if its for clothes, I'd like it, please," she said softly.  
"Alright," he started the engine, "Just tell me when I'm being too straight forward or too fast, and I'll stop, okay?" he smiled at her as he pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive slowly down the road.  
"You can speed up, you don't have to go that slow," she noted.

He was really starting to like this girl, she was pretty cool for what she had just been though. He knew that if he did do something out of her line of comfort, then he would feel completely guilty and try and fix it. Revved up the engine and sped down the deserted road.

* * *

**Weeeee! This took me about 4 hours! Okay, hope you guys like it! Give me some tips on what I did wrong and stuff! I'll like that a lot! Thaaanks! Also, you lot can call me by my nickname. Kitty :P  
**

**~Kitty **


	2. The First Night

**A/N: Heeeeey! So this is a bit longer than the first one. Sorry for not posting in a while. School's been like, pushing my limit. But yeaaaah this is the next chapter! Hope you like it! ^^  
(I don't own Homestuck but I own this story) :33 **

* * *

Chapter 2

The first night

It was midnight by the time they reached Dave's house. It wasn't a small house in the middle of no where. It was a large apartment building with many floors. It was still dark outside as Dave parked his car in front of the place. Turning off the car and giving a look at Jade. "Now how am I going to sneak you passed the front desk," he muttered to himself. This only made Jade look at him with confusion.

A small smirk prayed on his lips as he pulled off his t-shirt. He had a gray undershirt on when he handed the shirt to Jade. "Here, put this on, this'll hide most of ya," he said as he opened the car door and jumped out, giving the girl some privacy.

He leaned against the side of the car. His back towards Jade. He scanned the area, only a few cars out, driving home from work, probably. His dark shades blocked out most of the light, but he could see pretty good. But the worst thing about waiting for the girl to finish getting his shirt on, that is was really cold. A gust of wind pushed at him, making him shiver lightly. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep warm.

After about five minutes of standing in the autumn cold, Jade finally walked out of his car. She had his shirt on and her blanket over her legs. She probably wrapped them around so no one would notice. She also had his leather jacket on her shoulders. Her long black raven hair was tucked under the jacket. She looked so small with his clothes on, he didn't want to even lay a finger on her.

"Considering its midnight, and you're probably gonna be wanted at the station, we can go shopping for new things tomorrow. I'll get you that dress though. Just follow me," he lead her into the building, pushing open the doors for her. He could sense she was still uneasy about following him into his place, but she just took a deep breath and walked forward.

The girl at the front desk looked up. She then smiled and signed hello in sign language. Dave, knowing she was deaf, signed back. He said "Hello, going to my room, good night," which made her nod and let herself get focused back on what she was doing before.

When they reached the elevator, Jade looked at him. He only said "That's Meulin, she's deaf. I solved a case for her. And for a reward, she got me a hella sweet apartment, you'll see." he looked down at her and smirked. But she only looked away from him. He was pretty sure that he was going a bit too fast for her comfort. Just need to get the dress, come on, Strider.

The elevator stopped at the 5th floor. Opening them up, they stepped out of it. There was only one door on this floor, it looked like a hollow wooden door that had years of abuse. The corners of it lined pieces of chipped white paint. Jade didn't know what to think of this. But it was the only entrance to the room so she was a bit curious why.

"This is what Meulin got me for a house," he said, taking out his key. "Plus, my Bro helped me out. He stays here from time to time, so yeah. I think I have something that would keep you warm…" he glanced at her. "If I still have it," he opened the door and stepped into his home. Jade's breath hitched as she gazed at the apartment.

The walls were a dark, red velvet color. There were lights that hung on the walls as Dave flipped on the lights. It had a decent glow. A homey glow. Making her feel somewhat safe. There was a dark purple carpet in the living room, which was the room that you would first walk into. The carpet was soft as her bare, cold feet touched it. The was a white, leather couch that sat in front of a big, flat screen tv. It looked about a 50" screen. It was totally different from the warehouses she stayed half her life.

When she turned her head, to the counter top that technically sparkled. It was smooth granite. Something that would be very easy to get. The counter top was connected to a white wall, which was just a cube like wall that only connected to the counter. A tan, house phone hung on that wall. The cord a bit tangled as the wire snaked into the wall.

The kitchen was somewhat small. A black stove sat next to a dirty white fridge. It looked somewhat good for cooking, which Jade really wanted to try. The thought of food made her stomach rumble painfully, but she tried to ignore it.

Next to the kitchen, there was a small, door frame entrance leading up the stairs. It was dark up there and the glint in her glasses from the grease didn't make things better.

Dave must have walked away from her while she was gazing at the interesting apartment. She noticed him when he walked down the stairs, he had a new shirt on. One that wasn't completely black. This one was white with red sleeves, with a broken record symbol on it. It kind of suit him, in her opinion.

"I, uh, forgot I gave that old thing away," he said, scratching the back of his head. He THOUGHT he had this dress for her. A 'gift' from John as a joke. But, when he found it, he soon realized that it was part of sex clothing. Which he made a note to get ride of FAST. He didn't want that weird thing anymore.

"I'll call up Terezi, she can give some clothes over, then we can head to the station," he nodded at her, "You can sit down, you know," He said, pointing at the leather couch and taking out his phone. He walked into the kitchen as he held up the cell phone to his ear. Speaking into it quietly.

Jade, on the other hand, suddenly felt very light headed. She didn't know why, maybe it was the lack of water in her system or loss of sleep. But she felt the room spin. She looked around wildly, not understanding what was happening. She couldn't find her voice to tell Dave what was wrong. Soon, she found herself on the ground, her eyes sliding shut as she passed out.

Dave heard the drop and looked over at her. His heart fell as he raced over to her. Terezi still on the phone. "What!? What happened!?" she asked in her usual snarky attitude.

"She fell," he muttered, putting the phone on his shoulder, he used both his hands to pick her up. Seeing how light she was. "Jesus, she's like a feather," he muttered.

"Still want me to bring the clothes?" Terezi asked, sounding somewhat impatient over the phone.

"Yeah, thanks Tz, can always count on you," he said as she hung up the call.

He let his phone drop onto the carpet next to the couch. Slowly setting the girl onto the leather furniture. She seemed to have fainted. Probably from loss of sleep or something. He didn't mind. She looked almost cuter when she was sleeping. Wait, was he staring at her? What a creep! He quickly turned his head away from Jade. Going to the kitchen and looking in the fridge. Beer, water, apple juice and a half eaten sandwich sat there. It was pretty empty, but he was eating take out for the past months, working hard on cases. Never really getting a day off. Why would he need it? He kind of loved his job.

About 30 minutes later, a knock echoed though the house. He had poured himself a glass of apple juice. Which was, by far, the coolest fucking drink ever. He was stilling at his table. His feet crossed and upon the oak wood slab. When the knock sounded, he slowly got up, putting the drink on his counter and walked to his door. Opening it quietly because Jade was still sleeping.

"Hey," Terezi said, holding a bag. "I got your friend some good stuff. Underwear, br-"

"I don't need to know the details, TZ, just give it to me," he snapped, the tiredness he had been fighting was catching up to him.

"Jeez, someone needs his beauty sleep," Terezi tossed him the bag. "She needs to be at the station by noon tomorrow. Just to be asked questions. But that's about it. I looked her up and she has no family, they all seemed to have died. Soooo, she's your duty now." Terezi turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Do you know any good clothing stores for chicks?" he asked

"Go to the mall, there's plenty there," she said as she turned around fully, walking into the opened elevator.

Dave closed the door behind him slowly. Looking at the bag and thinking about what Terezi just said. She said it so fast that, if he didn't know her well enough, he would have completely forgotten. _She doesn't have anyone? At all? _he thought to himself as he glanced at the sleeping girl on his couch. He was pretty sure that the couch wasn't the most comfortable place in the house to sleep on. His bed was pretty comfy. He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked over to Jade, shaking her awake.

She bolted up so fast, he almost crashed heads with her. But he jumped back just in time. His shades almost fell off his face but he quickly pushed them up before she could see anything. Her eyes looked around wildly as if she forgot where she was. But when she looked up at him, she seemed to relax a little bit. Just a little.

"Hey hey hey, its okay, its okay…" he muttered. "This Strider isn't going to hurt you," he said it so softly, trying to calm her. He comforted her without touching her. He was pretty sure she didn't want to be touched.

He slowly held the bag of clothes that was given to him. "My friend brought these, everything you need, just needa put them on," he handed her the bag. She reached out her arms and took it from her, opening it and seeing the things she needs. She nodded "T-thanks…"

"Hey, don't thank me, thank Terezi. She was the one who brought them," he smiled at her, kneeling beside the couch. He saw how dirty and mucky her glasses were, which probably wasn't the funnest thing to look out of. "Want me to clean your glasses?" he had many things for cleaning glasses since his shades were very expensive. So he had a lot of cleaning things.

This question caught her off guard completely. She knew her glasses were messy. But she gave up on cleaning them days into being a slave. She needed new ones because one side was cracked. The round lenses were very shitty but she didn't know what to say. She still didn't completely trust him, but she had been in his house for about an hour now and he didn't do anything bad to her. So, it might be a start. And he was a cop, hopefully, he wouldn't hurt her physically OR mentally. Like she had any hope of finding someone again in the first place.

"U-uh, okay…" she said, deciding to let him help her. This was a HUGE leap of faith which, considering her condition, she wouldn't have done. She wanted to trust him, and she gave little hints that she wanted too. Giving him a warning that if he went too far, than all hell would break loose.

Dave gave her a soft smile, which was something he wouldn't do. It was out of character for him to actually smile. It was usually like a smirk or just that regular poker face. But he wanted the girl to trust him. He was going to keep the girl as safe as he could. Not caring about the consequences.

She slowly took off the round glasses, looking around the blurry room. She looked at the semi blurry Dave, handing over the glasses, hesitantly. He flashed her another smile and took them, jumping up and walking out of the living room. Leaving her alone on his white leather couch. She was pretty sure she was getting it dirty for her not even taken a shower yet. She might ask him to take one, then change into the clothes that was in the black bag.

He came back a few minutes later with her glasses. Free of the muck and grim. She just stared a him, not being able to form any words as of a thank you. "Heh, don't mention it," he said. "I would kinda guess how annoying it would be to be seeing out of shitty glasses," he flashed her a smile. This smile was the one he pulled not too long ago. "Anything else I could do for ya before you pass out again?"

_ Shower_ Jade thought as she pushed her glasses onto face. Her hair was extremely greasy and there was layers upon layers of grim on her body. From the months of not showering at all. Her 'master' took care of his 'motherfucking miracles' very well. Only giving them what they needed to stay alive.

It was silent for a few second, Jade just staring at him. She was trying to figure out how old he was. 20? 21? She was only 19. Brought as a sex slave when she was 18. Her birthday was only a few weeks ago. But she didn't mention that. She was very shy to even ask him for something to eat. Scared that she might throw it up like she did with the rest of the food she ate.

"Do you want some apple juice?" another odd question escaped his lips. But the sound something that was not whisky going down her throat. Or liquid drugs to make her sleep. Example: Nyquil. Which she learned to hate the taste. Only bringing her bad thoughts. "Its okay if you don't want any. I get that you probably don't trust me. But if you really need anything. Seriously, don't hesitate to ask,"

"C-could I take a… Shower?" she said really quietly, not knowing if he completely heard her. She really wanted to take a hot shower.

"Sure you can. Want help figuring it out?"

"P-please…"

Dave nodded as he stood up, taking the black bag off her lap and slung it over his shoulder. Jade soon followed. She looked so weak and scared. Her legs wobbled as she stood, leaning against the couch for support. She was shaking slightly. Seeing her bare arms just made him want to pick her up and help her into the bathroom. But, he only held out a hand, not wanting to push her over her limit. She was a broken girl. No wait, the more he thought about it, she wasn't partly broken, just a bit bent. He could probably fix her. With time.

Jade looked at him and took his hand slowly. Leaning against him as he lead her down the hall to the bathroom. The door was almost exactly the same as the front. But, she knew to not to trust what was behind doors. Considering what she walked into just a few hours ago.

Dave kicked open the bathroom door and was met with red tiles along the floor. The walls were painted a plain white, as was the ceiling. The shower curtains was a light shade of orange. It was kinda small. Only room for really one. But he lead her onto the red tiles and set her on the white toilet. He then turned his back on her and opened the shower curtain. Only to stumble back in surprise. Jade, completely confused.

There was multicolored smuppets littering the bathtub. The plush rumps looking very plushy this evening. Dave muttered a curse under his breath. "Fucking Bro," he said as he took all of the smuppets out of the bathroom, throwing them into a room and slamming that door shut. "He needs to keep his shit in his own room," he snarled, walking back into the bathroom. Looking at the confused face of Jade. "Ehhh heh, sorry. My Bro is kinda obsessed with smuppets. He sells them online. Erm, just ignore those things for now. I'll turn on the shower," he said as he turned on the shower head.

Once the shower had been running for about 5 minutes, he directed her to the soap, shampoo and conditioner. He explained how to work the shower. It was very easy from his prospective. He knew how to work a shower. But was kinda inching for Jade to figure it out. Luckily, she knew what he was talking about. So she didn't live under a rock for her whole life.

"Alright, I'll be in the kitchen, call me if you need anything," Dave said, soon backing out of the bathroom and shutting the door. He thought he did a pretty good job of taking care of her. He was actually proud of himself. Which, by far, was a new thing for him.

As he walked into the kitchen, he thought about what just happened. For him, it happened really fucking fast. But, he couldn't really careless at the moment. He had that idiotic smile on his face like he just kissed the girl of his dreams. His body fell onto the white leather couch. It seemed to be needed a cleaning. But he'd do that later. He glanced at the cable box next to the TV. It read _1:28 _am. God, where was his brother? He should be getting here by now.

Almost on cue, the door opened. The pointy, anime shaded boy walked into the house. His blonde hair was pulled back into the police cap and he had his dark blue police uniform on. _Police Department of Houston, Texas _read on his shoulder. He let loose a groan and kicked his boots off. "Hey bro,"

"Sup," Dave answered.

"Tired, I'm going to bed,"

"Okay, before you go, I gotta tell you something,"

"Wh-" _**CRASH. **_"The fuck was that?" Dirk looked over to the bathroom as he felt himself grip his gun on his belt. Dave quickly jumped up.

"A girl! She's one of the, ya know, slaves of Gamzee and I took her here to help her out. I'm taking her back in the morning. She's taking a shower,"

"…Are you fucking serious?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean, she means no harm. And I should probably go see what that crash was about," Dave said as he quickly walked into the bathroom, avoiding his brother's eyes.

His hand knocked on the door. "Jade? You okay?"

"Y-yeah…" her soft voice answered.

"You sure?"

Silence for about 2 seconds until there was a small whimper. "M-maybe not…"

"Can I come in?" his hand crept down to the door handle.

"Uh, yeah," she replied as the door opened. She was wrapped up in a towel, the shower curtain was on the floor and the shower was still running. So much for a smart girl.

This brought a small smirk on his lips. "Well, looks like someone had too much fun in the shower," wow, bad timing for jokes. Nice going Strider. He made his way over to the shower and quickly turned it off. Then he looked over at Jade. Her black hair was dripping wet, but didn't look as greasy as it was before she went into the shower. Her skin was glowing with health and without that layer of grim on her body, she looked… beautiful.

"I-I'm sorry…." she muttered, she held the towel over her chest. Not making eye contact. Or any form of contact because with the eyes, it was hard because of the shades he was wearing. "I slipped and… the shower curtain fell with me… then the shampoo bottles. Then everything else…" she was shaking, probably cold from being dripping wet. But she was also scared he was gonna get mad at her and hurt her.

But that wasn't the thing at all. He simply placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile. "Its alright. I mean, it was just an accident. Its fine," he said. His voice made her relax lightly. "Now, you can go into my room and get changed, I'll clean this up," he ushered her out into his room, throwing the bag of clothes onto the bed and shutting the door behind him.

She looked around his room. It was a simple boys room. A bed, dresser, computer, and… a launch pad. She had never seen one before. It was new to her. Maybe she could ask about it when she had enough courage. She just made a fool of herself in his bathroom. Might not want to make a mess of his bedroom. She slowly opened the bag again and took out two sets of clothes. There was a deep blue pair of pajamas with flowers on them. They were long on both her legs and her arms. So she would be covered up completely. The next thing she pulled out was a bra and underwear. Oh fuck yes, under garments. She forgot how it felt to be covered up.

She slipped into the white panties after her towel fell to the ground. She then took the green bra and clipped it on. It felt much comfortable to be in things that would cover up her areas. Next she slipped into the baby blue fuzzy pants and night shirt. It was very soft and warm. She smiled at herself as she looked down. Finally, clothes that don't make her look like a whore. She then picked up the towel and dried her hair. It would take while but she mostly dried it as much as she could. It didn't take long for a soft knock on the door to make her turn around.

Dave opened the door slightly. Then, fully when he saw she was fully clothed. "Cleaned up everything. Now, how do you feel?" he asked. It was beginning to be around 2 am and he was getting tired. But he just had to make sure that she was alright first.

"I feel… clean," she muttered.

"Awesome, so, feel like sleeping?" he was ready to crash himself.

"Yeah, I feel kinda tired," it was beginning to become easier to talk to him.

"Okay, cool. You can sleep in my bed, if you want. I'll sleep on the couch,"

"No no no! I… I don't want to take your bed. I can sleep on the couch…"

Dave gave her a look, which only made her look away. "Is it what you want?" he asked. Jade nodded and he sighed. "Alright fine,"

She flashed him a smile and turned to leave his room. She was fiddling with the end of her new pajama shirt as she entered the living room. Only to be met with the face of pointy shades. He was snoring on the couch, still didn't make the attempt to get out of his uniform. She stood there, staring as Dave saw her in the hallway.

"Uhhhh, You know what, you can sleep in my room. No exceptions," he said as he pushed her into his room. Quickly shutting the door. The next thing she heard was "BRO GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO INTO YOUR GOD DAMN ROOM," She guessed she shouldn't argue with Dave. Maybe that good night sleep. She slowly crawled into the red covered bed and took off her glasses, placing them on the nightstand next to the bed. She curled up in the soft bed, falling asleep immediately.

* * *

**Hope you guys like it! And I read the two reviews I got. It made me really happy! Yeeee! Okay, stay tuned to the next chapter! **

**3 3 **

**~Kitty **


	3. Shopping and Trusting

**A/N: Sorry for not posting in like, forever. Finals have been kicking my butt in school. Hopefully this chapter isn't a piece of shit. ^^**

* * *

Chapter 3

Shopping and Trusting

It wasn't a shock that she woke in cold sweat, trying to caught her breath, feeling her heart race a mile a minute. It was something she was used to with being terrified to be touched for the past months. Though, it took her a minute to remember were she was. It was a blurry sight to see, without her glasses that is. Until she realized where the hell she was. It was the police officer that was very nice to her, let her stay here, even sleep in his bed. It was a very nice of him, but she was just waiting for him to lay a hand on her to bruise her. Like Gamzee did…

Jade reached for her glasses so she could actually see to get out of the room. It really didn't change from the night before. Red carpet, white walls, desk where a laptop sat, the launch pad. It was pretty cool, as she thought when she pushed the red covers off her small body and stood up. Her mind when fuzzy for a moment before she was sitting back down on the bed. Her body not used to having a full 8 hours of sleep. She took a deep breath and stood, grabbing onto things that would help her towards the door. She just needed to get used to not being cooped up in that warehouse.

Once she opened the door, sweet smells entered her nose. Making her smile softly and her stomach growl loudly. She ignored the swaying of her body and followed the scent into the kitchen. She was met with Dave, cooking up a bunch of food she probably forgot the names off. But it didn't stop her from entering the kitchen, the smile widened as she scanned the food.

Flaky, perfectly cooked pancakes coated with syrup sat on a white plate. It wasn't plastic, a ceramic one. Two platefuls sat on either end of the table. 3 cakes on each. The butter seemed to be melted and spread across the top. Syrup dripped down from all sides. In the middle, there sat a small plate of bacon. There was a lot stuffed into one plate but she didn't care about that. The smell was amazing.

Next to the bacon, there sat a large mug of apple juice and coffee. She never tried coffee before but she heard from some of the other girls that it made you very hyper. She was looking forward to try it.

"Morning," his voice broke through her staring at the food. Once she figured out what she was doing, she quickly looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, "Are you drooling?"  
"W-what? No!" she said, looking away from his face and back at the delicious looking food. She heard him laugh.  
"Go on, I made half of that for you. So, pig out as much as you want. Just save some for me," he flashed her a half smile that made her want to just about melt. Wait what? She quickly sat down before he could do anymore damage to her.

The smell of all the food was too fucking good. She picked up her fork and cut a piece of the pancake. The soft, sweetness of the dough made her insides beg for more. So she granted their wish. In about 5 minutes, all 3 pancakes on her plate were gone. Her stomach felt full, but she wanted to try the coffee. So she casually picked up her white mug and poured herself some, taking a small sip.

This was the most grossest thing she ever tasted.

And she accidentally made a noise like "Bleeeeeh!" when she drank it. It was really bitter and hot. And the taste lingered on her tongue. Dear god, she didn't like it. She could say she hated it. How could Rose like it so much!?

Dave must have heard her noise because he was turned around. Laughing at her face. "Try to put cream into it. Maybe some sugar too," he said, sitting down across from her. He had just finished making something else. Was this guy some professional cook? "French Toast?" he asked, holding out a plate of fluffy looking bread with white powder on them. She wanted to try them, but she actually didn't trust the white powder…

"No thanks," she said softly, taking the cream he just put down. She poured it slowly, watching out the black liquid turn light brown. She then took the small white bowl of sugar and put in 3 scoops of the white stuff. She's seen sugar before, so she trusted it greatly. Once that was done, she stirred it slowly. Watching it turn a lighter brown, it was still steaming, but not as much.

"Go ahead, it's not gonna drink itself," Dave said as he watched her. He had to admit, it was kinda cute to watch this girl figure out how to make coffee. He also thought it was pretty funny when she first tasted the bitter shit. He didn't mind it, but she apparently did.

He watched her put the mug to her lips, taking a small sip. She smiled, an actual smile that wasn't forced. _Wow this girl can be happy_ he thought as he started to cut and eat his breakfast, reaching over to pour a glass of apple juice for himself. He had to give himself some credit for the food, it was really good. Explaining how Jade ate hers in 5 seconds. No that was over exaggerating it. Maybe it was 2 minutes? Who knows, the girl was very hungry.

Once he finished the food and drink, he leaned over and took the coffee pot from Jade's side, pouring himself coffee, tipping in about two sugars into it. The way he liked it. Black, two sugars.

"You like your coffee bitter?" Jade said, noticing his drink.  
"Hell yeah, its black, like my heart," he joked, leaning back into the chair and pushing his feet up. Sipping his coffee.  
"You don't have anyone you like?" she asked, which kinda caught him off guard.  
"No, just friends. No one else really," he said, looking at her though his shades. He saw that she was still in those baby blue pajamas. While he was in his broken record shirt with red sleeves and black jeans. He was given the day off of work today, just had to stop by the station with this chick to get her checked and everything. Then they could go shopping. "So! Before we can go to the mall and get you a whole new wardrobe, which I'm paying for, no exceptions. We have to go down to the station. They're gonna ask you a few questions and take your blood to check if you don't have anything that's wrong with you, okay?"  
"I-I uhm…" she looked away from him. He saw that she was scared to do anything right now. Considering it probably took her a lot to get into a car with him in the first place.  
"Don't worry, Jade. I won't let any scary doctor or anything hurt you, I promise," he said as he pushed himself off the table and stood up, finishing his coffee. "Now, up up up! Time to get dressed, we go a big day, solider. And we gotta get shit done,"

She was in a bright green sweater. It looked knitted, but it was also store bought so the design on it was kinda stripped. It was a blinding green, but for his sake, he had his shades, so he could careless. Her legs were covered with black leggings. They didn't seem tight on her and she looked comfortable enough. On her feet, she wore black uggs that went up to half of her shin. It made her look cute, in his opinion.

Her hair was brushed out and it flowed down her back. The large round glasses sat on her nose. Falling down every time there was a bump. She didn't make any attempt to make conversation, just looking out the window. He would glance at her from time to time, having shades on definitely hid it too. Which he was thankful for. He would be driving the car in the awkward silence between them. Until he actually got sick of it.

"Scared?" he spoke softly, having one hand on the wheel and one of the windowsill. He tried to look like he was really cool doing this, but he doubt she actually saw her.  
"A little…" she whispered, kinda surprising him with the answer. Not the answer itself, but that she answered.  
"Don't worry, the doc won't hurt you. I know Scratch from when I first joined the force," he tried to keep the conversation going. Not liking the awkward air.  
"Scratch…?" she looked over at him.  
"Yeah, Doc Scratch. His first name is Able, but everyone either calls him Doc or Scratch… erm, or both," he added at the end of the sentence, knowing that some of the other officers call him that.  
"Is he… evil?" she asked. What kinda question was that?  
"He works in the police force, I doubt he'd be evil," Dave answered. "Look, we're here,"

His car stopped in front of a dark blue building. Typical blue because it was apparently the color of all police stations. The sign _Houston Police Department_ printed in black letters with a yellow background. The sign hung right over the doors, glass doors. Double doors that lead into yet another set of doors. Same kind of doors. The first set open to the public and meeting with a desk on the side. Almost hidden from the outside. Once done talking to that person, the person at the desk on the side would let the visitor in by pressing a button and unlocking the next set of doors.

Dave popped open his door before swinging around to help Jade out. Once she was out of the car, he guided her to the sidewalk, up the concrete stairs into the first set of glass doors.

"Hey Mituna," he called to the guy at the front desk. "Sup man?"  
"Not much!" he said, his voice was high and he had a bit of a lisp. "It's rad, have you seen Latula around?"  
"Nah man, just getting in,"  
"Oh, okay, lemme open the doors. Which button was that again…." The fuzzy haired man scratched his head as he looked at the wall for which one to press.  
"The green one, little man," Dave said, helping him out a bit.  
"Oh, right, okay. Here is it," There was a soft buzz then a click. "Have a good day, Strider,"

Dave opened the doors for Jade, which was walked into hesitantly. She was followed by Dave as he stuck close behind her, not too close to make her uncomfortable, but close enough to be protective of her. He really couldn't understand it but he had this urge to make sure she was okay. Before he was. Putting her needs in front of hers felt like the right thing to do.

Dave looked down at her, she glanced back at him with a questioning look. He answered quietly. "Mituna Captor. He was a police officer in my unit before I became a detective. It was a simple mission, really. A kid that did some weird shit and was gonna get arrested for it. He was scared, as all small little shits are and he set a bomb. NO ONE knew how he had fucking gun powder but it exploded and Mituna took some of it. Getting brain damage in the process. I felt so bad because, he was the best we had. I mean, literally the best. But now, he's just… broken..

"Latula, Terezi's sister, was with him at the time. Like, relationship. They still are. They live together and she takes care of him. The force was going to throw him out because he now had brain damage, but then the chick couldn't look after him. So they gave him this job. It was something very easy that he wouldn't fuck up. And Latula could still look after him," Dave finished explaining as they walked into his office.

"That's… kinda sweet," Jade whispered as she watched him unlock the door. He walked in as she followed behind. She looked around the room. It was a small little place. With a desk filled with different papers everywhere. A lamp sat on the edge of the desk as he flipped on the light on the ceiling. The desk was dark brown with a black cushiony chair tucked into it. In front of the desk sat two black, sitting chairs. They looked really comfy and soft. Probably for people who need his help.

Dave gestured to either the front chairs or the desk chair for her to sit in. He probably could careless about where he sat. Considering he saw himself as a cool guy and it was _his _office. So, he should have the privilege to sit anywhere he wanted.

"Yeah, it is kinda sweet. How Tulip takes care of him and all that shit," he said, glancing at her though his shades. Thank god he had them on. The dark glass was the perfect cover for checking girls out. Not that he did that. Considering he had a job to do half the time. And the fucking blind girl always caught him. Ironic.

"So, anyway, sit somewhere while I'll go get the Doc. Be back in a flash," he said as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Leaving Jade alone.

He dashed around the cubicles where others sat and worked. Dealing with people who needed help in the town. Dave, racing in between people, asking around where the Doc was. They all pointed to the break room, as he ran there, he bumped into a familiar set of glasses.

"Oh hey Strider," Vriska said with her usual sinister smile. "What are you doing dashing about?"  
"Trying to get to Scratch, move please," he tried getting passed her, but she stood in his way each time.  
"You know, I've wanted to ask you something," _oh here we go _"You know John, right? John Egbert?"  
"Yes, he's my best friend, why wouldn't I know him," Dave said eagerly as he tried to get passed her again. "Look, can we talk la-"  
"I want to ask him out but I don't know what he likes. What are some of his interests?"  
"Nic Cage, now MOVE" he pushed passed her finally and broke to the break room. Ignoring the growls from Vriska.

He opened the door to the coffee room to see no one but the doctor, sitting at the small table, sipping a small cup of coffee. "Scratch!" Dave called a little too loudly as the man turned. He was a middle aged man. With sandy blonde hair that swept to one side of his forehead. His skin was a pale white. Only the skin on his face showed because, he was covered from head to toe in a white suit. White dress shoes and white gloves. Like he was trying to hide something on his skin. He held a cane as he walked. Having a limp on his left leg.

"Yes? How can I help you, detective?" he asked in a formal tone, still sitting down but now facing the blonde boy.  
"I have a girl you should check out. The one from Gamzee's scandal. I took her home by accident… uh, just go check her out, make sure she's okay,"  
"So that's where the last girl went," the doctor muttered, taking his cup and finishing his coffee. "Alright, take me to her,"  
"Sweet, follow me," Dave said as he pushed his shades up his nose. Turning on his heel and walking out of the break room. Doc behind him.

Dave and Scratch moved through the cubicles yet again to stop at the office of Dave's, where sat the small girl for about 10 minutes now. "She's in here," he said as he opened the door. Doc Scratch walked inside.

Jade turned to the two men walking into the room. She looked at the sandy haired man and then back at Dave. Raising an eyebrow at him through her big round glasses.

"Jade, meet Doc Scratch. He's gonna ask you some questions and take a small blood test," Dave said, gesturing to the man.  
"Yes, if you'd follow me to my office, please," Scratch said as he turned on his heel and walked out. Dave motioned for her to follow, which she did, very hesitantly. She didn't trust him, not even for a second. She wanted Dave to be there when he asked the questions and took her blood. She was starting to trust Dave more and more.  
"Please don't leave me alone with him…" she whispered to the blonde. Which pretty much caught him off guard."What? You don't have to worry, he's har-" Dave started  
"Dave, please," Jade was now begging. She looked at him with pleading eyes.  
"Okay okay, I'll be there," he said, trying to reassure her. "Nothing gonna happen, Jade,"

They stopped walking when they saw Doc Scratch stop next to the door. "All I need is the girl, Dave. You are not needed," Scratch said, shooing him away.  
"No way, I'm not leaving her," he noticed he said that a bit too eagerly. But the doctor paid no attention to it.  
"If you must, just don't distract her while I question her," Doc said as he opened the door to his office, slipping inside. Dave followed with Jade close behind.

"Now, first, I would think we should do the blood test. It would get it out of the way. Make you more comfortable?" Doc asked her, leaning on his cane with both hands. _The last time I had a needle stick me, it was to get me asleep. _she thought to herself as she moved to sit down in front of the doctor. Dave standing behind the chair she chose. "It won't hurt at all. It will only be a minute. It is to check if you have anything that is… deadly to anyone," he turned around to his table. There sat about a million different things that Jade wanted to fiddle with. But she didn't, she just sat and waiting as he pulled out a needle. Connecting it to another part. He then turned back to the girl.

"You will only feel a prick," he muttered as he walked towards her. Holding the needle out for her to see. She though it was a very big needle and that if it touched her, she was going to die. Her breath started to increase as she reached for Dave's hand. She did this unconsciously, but she sure as hell didn't let go.

Doc Scratch knelt beside her and grabbed her arm, tying a rubber band over her forearm. A few seconds later, a dark blue vein popped up as the doctor acted quickly. Sticking the needle into the skin. Ignoring the sounds of protest from the girl. "Jade, shhh, it'll be over in a minute," Dave said soothingly to her, squeezing her hand tightly. Trying to distract her from the pain.

The doctor pulled up the syringe as it filled with blood. Dark crimson that made her just want to faint. She's seen enough blood from being locked away. But she didn't fall over at the sight of it now. She only held Dave's hand tighter. "Almost over," he whispered to her.

There must have been a pint of blood in that syringe because when Doc Scratch stopped taking blood, she felt somewhat light headed. Her grip on Dave's hand loosened slightly, but she didn't want to let go. She was actually happy she was sitting down, for she would've tripped over something to sit down.

"I shall test it tonight, now, questions. Tell me, girl, what do you remember on Gamzee,"  
"He… he raped me…" she muttered, probably the only sentence she was able to say at the moment.  
"Did he do anything else to you?"  
"Hit me… repeatedly… called me names…" she felt herself get weaker as tears flowed down her cheeks. "I… tried to stop him…" she sniffed.  
"Jade, you do-" he started  
"Silence boy!" Doc Scratch yelled at him. "Sorry, Jade, continue please,"  
"H-he… hit the others… more then me… said that I… I was his favorite…" more tears fell as she thought of the times he punished all of them. Even her.  
"Okay, that's enough," Dave stepped in, seeing how she wasn't ready to be talking about this shit right now. "Give her sometime. She needs to relax and get over it before she can talk freely about it," he snapped at Scratch.  
Doc Scratch looked disapproving at the blonde, but backed off of Jade. "If you are feeling in the need to speak with a human, then come to me, I can help," Scratch said as he stood up by the help of his cane. "You are dismissed," he gestured to the door as Dave helped the girl up, leading her out of the room.  
"Come on, lets hit the mall and go shopping, ey? A whole new wardrobe sounds cool," he said as he walked out of the station, waving goodbye to Mituna and walked to his car.

* * *

Five stores later, Jade walked out again empty handed. She was dragging him everywhere and she felt really bad. Not finding anything for the passed 5 stores. And he was with her for most of them. Hot topic had some really nice shirts, but the store itself crept her out, she wasn't even in there for 5 minutes. But Dave seemed to have liked the store. He even bought a few shirts. With Jade standing at the entrance, looking around at the freaky store.

He walked out to her, holding a black plastic bag that read Hot Topic on the front and back. "Nothing?" he asked,

"No…" she muttered  
"Damn, Hot Topic's the best store!"  
"That's your opinion," she looked at him, straight into his shades.  
"Well, don't worry, you'll find something," he gave her a smirk, then turned this head to the food court. "Hungry?"  
"A little…"  
"Well, you did wolf down those pancakes this morning, but if you are still hungry," he looked back at her as she was glaring at him. "Lets go," he motioned her to follow him into the crowd, scared he was going to lose her in the area full of people.

She stuck close to him. Bumping into some people, trying to keep up. But she ended up tripping over her feet and falling over. Dave looked behind him to see the poor girl on the ground. He didn't realize how clumsy she was. He made a note of how much cuter it made her. Whoa wait what? Strider, slow down there, you've only known the girl for two days. And she's gone through a lot, don't need some guy swooning over her.

He reached down and helped her up, telling the people around her that she was alright. She looked a bit scared to be the center of attention. So he got her out of there, fast. "You alright?" he asked, guiding her out of the crowds. He got a small nod out of her, she looked a bit hurt, maybe gotten a bruise on her leg or something. She looked fine to him, just a bit shaken up.

"Come on, lets get something to eat," he said looking at the fast food choices.  
"What's KFC?" she asked softly.  
"Kentucky Fried Chicken," he answered with a bit of a smile.  
"We're in Texas, no where near Kentucky," she said, looking at him.  
"No no, its just the name of the place,"  
"Is the chicken from Kentucky?"  
"No, its just a name, they make their chicken in the joint,"  
"Do they use real chickens?!" she squeaked.  
"I don't think so. I think they use mechanically separated shit,"  
"…what,"  
"Never mind,"  
"Okay… Lets eat there!"  
"Okay, sweet," he smiled at her before walking over to the counter.

Dave looked at her, "Watcha want?" he asked, already knowing what he was craving for. Her on the other hand, was staring at the menu, dumbfounded. He heard the soft sound escape her lips. It sounded like an extended version of "uhhh".  
"I don't know…" she said softly as Dave stepped in front of her.  
"We'll have a 8 piece chicken strips with 2 biscuit , a small sprite and a medium coke," he said to the lady at the register. She nodded and took down the order, then told him he had to wait a few minutes to get the food together. Making them stand with the others people waiting for their orders.  
"So, maybe if you're still hungry after this, I'll get you some ice cream," he said, leaning over to talk to her closely. Considering it was a very loud place to be right now.  
"What kinda ice cream?" she asked softly.  
"Any kind you want," he smiled at her, and she smiled back softly.

Their food soon came quickly as Dave grabbed it and looked around for a table. Jade spotted one as she walked towards it. Dave followed. He had trouble holding the tray without it falling everywhere, but he somehow got to the empty table.

She sat down cross from him as he gave her the small drink. Then he gave her one chicken strip. "Here, try it. I'm pretty sure you'll like it," he told her as he took a chicken strip for himself. He bit into it, tasting the greasy tenderness of the white chicken. It was a bit hot but he didn't care. The chicken was fucking amazing.

And Jade thought so too. She was munching on that thing so fast, it was gone before he could even blink. Dave laughed. Watching her reach for another one. Which he happily gave to her. "This is really good," she muttered as she bit into the second piece. He looked at the box of chicken, thinking that he wasn't going to have any leftovers for tomorrow… Awe man.

She was about on her fourth when she started to slow down. She just about finished it before taking a long sip of the sprite he got her. He smiled at her as he drank his soda slowly, watching her go from shoving food in her mouth to sitting innocently in the metal chair.

"That was the best thing I've ever tasted," she told him, which made him laugh more. "Well, next to your pancakes," she gave him a small smile before whipping her mouth on a napkin.

"My pancakes are the shit," he said with a smirk as he finished his drink. "So, wanna hit one more store, ice cream, then go back home?" he asked as he made his effort to get up.

The way he said home was like the suddenly lived together. But Jade waved it off. He was the only person she trusted. It probably was going to stay that way for a while until she found someone else to take care of her. Which she probably wouldn't. She nodded slightly and stood up. Brushing some of the crumbs off of her. Dave packed up the trash and threw it away.

They walked around for a while before Jade spotted a store that looked like her taste. She grabbed Dave's attention and pointed at the store. "Old Navy? You want to go there?" he asked out of surprise.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" she asked softly  
"It's a good store, its just people don't like shopping in places where you can get jeans for 10 dollars, I guess," he shrugged helplessly.  
"I'm going there whether you like it or not," Jade said, walking over there.  
"Funny, because I have all the money," he muttered before following her into the store.

Jade was mesmerized by the different types of jeans and clothing. She ended up getting two pairs of jeans that fit her quite nicely. A few shirts that had funny logos on them and a jean skirt. She also found a really nice blue dress with the sign of a dog on it. It made her look very cute and cheery, which was the style she was going for. So, she added it to her pile.

Dave on the other hand, was practically watching all his money slip away each shirt she grabbed. He sighed with a small smile, shaking his head and walking over to the men's section. Looking at the pants there. They weren't that bad, and the deal was pretty good… He got 2 pairs of jeans as he found Jade.

"Are you done?" he asked with a smile.  
"Yeah, I think so," she answered,  
"Alright, lets go pay and get some ice cream," he said, walking over to the cashier and paying for all of the clothing. The total of everything was about 78 dollars. Plus tax. He almost didn't want to shot for her again, but he didn't want to just stop caring for her. He did care for her.

He paid for the clothes and walked out of the store with Jade close behind. They made their way back to the food court and went to the ice cream stand.

"Cold stone?" she said, reading the label.  
"Yeah, best ice cream in my opinion," Dave answered, ordering his choice as he did for Jade, knowing she wouldn't know what to get. "One vanilla cone and one chocolate cone please," he said to the man behind the counter. The boy nodded as he started getting their order ready. "After this, we'll go home," he said, leaning against the counter. "I'm beat,"  
"I'm kinda tired too," Jade confessed as she yawned. He thought that was adorable.

Minutes later, they were walking to his car, lapping at their ice creams and holding the plastic bags full of clothes. Jade, feeling absolutely bad about how he had to get everything for her, but he didn't seem to mind. She still felt bad though. Even if he did it willingly. She was starting to think she could be more trusting with him. If she just let herself love someone, she might be happy… for once.

* * *

**A/N: HOLY SHIT. I'm still really sorry for making you guys wait, like, 20 days for this chapter. Tests testing test ugh I hate them! Anywaaaaaaay time for shout outs! Because I can do this now. **

**To Nova, my moirail I met on PARP. He helped me with human Doc Scratch so yeah, appreciate him! He's also really cool. So, yeah. **

**To I'm awesome and y'all know it. Ahhhhhh thank you so much XD I was a bit tired the last chapter. And you might find some more mistakes in this one. I'm not the best at grammar or spelling. Ha yeah. I was also bombarded with stress, a 6 year old, and loss of sleep getting this chapter out, soooo ha ha. Cut me some slack. **

**To cloudsdale, No this isn't based off of that song. Because I don't know what song goes that way. My friend gave me the title because I suck at them. **

**Also, heads up, there will be much more fluff and feels in this story. I'm planning on killing each and every one of you with my feels canons. O`wO hahahahaha okay. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Bye Byee**

**-Kitty**

**(P.S. I have a tumblr. It is kittycat16778 and I take requests to write short stories and what not. There is also Nova who doesn't do anything but you guys should still follow him because he's awesome. novacrusher32 you'd put the . tumblr .com along the lines yeah so bye!) **


	4. Acoustic Blues

**A/N: AHHHHH I'm so so so so soooooooooooooooo sorry for extremely late update. I've been having so many problems + school + shit and argue so sorry. To make up for it. Have this chapter. I made it feelsy for your hearts to explode. So, yeah, forgive me. I do not own Homestuck nor the songs I am using. I own this story though, so don't steal it.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Acoustic Blues

The car ride home was eventful. He got to know her more. Like her favorite color. Her favorite movie before she got kidnapped. She hadn't watched a good movie since then. He was thinking about watching a movie with her tonight. If she wasn't scared about being in the dark with him. Maybe if he picked the right movie, they could share a night of cuddles. Okay, maybe not cuddling but just, relaxing, before he had to go to work in the morning.

The drive back to his apartment wasn't that long. Only about 20 minutes, but he didn't want it to be a awkward ride, so he started a conversation. "So, did you have fun?" he asked with his one hand on the wheel.  
"Yeah, I had a lot of fun, thank you," she said, giving him a soft smile.  
"Yeah, well, I know how to treat a girl," he smiled back at her. Wow, she seemed like the only girl that could make him actually smile.

Jade looked away from him again, putting her attention on what was going on outside. Just staring at the passing trees, bare of leaves because it was autumn. But she just had that stare like she wanted to see the world. He wanted to make her happy. To get her life back, but it would take some time. Though, he didn't care. He would do anything to make this girl smile again.

"You have work tomorrow, right?" she was looking at him again. Play cool, Strider, play cool.  
"Yeah, gotta go in for a couple hours, nothing too bad," he said. "Might take a case but nothing too special,"  
"Do you always go on cases?"  
"Not too often. See, I'm a detective, I am there to help out murders and shit like that. If I'm on a dumbass case and they need me for a murder scene, I gotta be there," he explained.  
"Oh," like that made any sense to her. But she waved it off.  
"Yeah. You wanna stay at my house again?" he asked. "I have a guest room, just gotta clear it out,"  
"That sounds really nice, thank you," she smiled at him.  
"Not a problem,"

Soon, the car ride went quiet, but it didn't matter because they were already in front of the apartment building. Jade got out of the car and grabbed most of the bags, Dave helped as well as they walked into the building. Waving to Meulin as they passed. Dave and Meulin signed for a minutes as they waiting for the elevator. They had a polite conversation, like he would usually have with the deaf girl on many occasions. The elevator came and Jade walked in, Dave followed as he said goodbye to Meulin.

"You know, she wasn't deaf to start out with?" Dave said to her as they rode the machine up to the fifth floor.  
"What happened?"  
"It was something with her boyfriend. He screamed so loud in her ear that she became deaf. I don't know. But her boyfriend left her because he couldn't forgive himself. Became a mute, now no one knows where he is," Dave said. "Like, he dropped off the face of the Earth, really."  
"Oh," she said, dropping the conversation quickly. She didn't want to talk about other peoples tragedies and such.

The conversation did fall flat as he looked about the elevator. It was awfully silent, which made him go a bit tense. He didn't like it when things were quiet. Even in his house, him and his bro where always yelling or doing something. His love for making music made the home noisy. It made him really really uncomfortable when things got silent.

Thankfully, the silence was stopped by a ding. Informing them that they have reached their floor. The large gray, metal doors opened for them as the two stepped out. Both hands kinda full of shopping bags. But Dave had an extra hand if he put the bags on his wrist. He somehow fished out his keys to unlock the door, which was surprisingly unlocked.

He kicked opened the door to see his brother, just lounging on the couch in a shirt and boxers. Dave groaned as Jade cracked a smile. The spiky haired freak looked up at the two. "Oh, didn't think you'd be home so soon,"  
"Its 5 in the afternoon," Dave told him, walking in and shutting the door with his foot. Jade followed him in and gave a small smile to Dirk.  
"Is she gonna be living with us?" he asked, his nose cringing a bit.  
"Probably, why?"  
"Are you gonna pay for her?"  
"I'll try,"  
"Good, because I'm not helping with anything,"  
"Fatass," Dave muttered as he walked into his room to put the shopping bags on his floor. Jade followed him closely, like a lost puppy.

"Okay, tonight, I'm gonna be cleaning out the guest room and probably passing out there, you can have my room one more night and that's it, got it?" he spoke to her softly, but slightly demanding. The night before, he slept on the couch, and he was about to sleep in another foreign bed. He already missed his really soft bed. One he paid a lot of money to get. One that he screamed at his bro from touching it just slightly. It was his head. He loved that bed… a lot.

Jade just nodded at his request. A bit happy by the fact that Dave was doing all this stuff for her from just knowing her for almost two days. She was very grateful, one could say she could be happy again. Maybe.

"So, hungry for dinner?" he asked as he set the bags beside of his head. "Or still full from all the fired chicken you consumed?" he gave a slight smirk as he twisted his bare wrist. He just simply heard a crack and sighed, relaxing.  
"Uh, no, I'm not hungry anymore…" she said softly as she looked up at him. "Thank you, by the way,"  
"For what? Taking care of you?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, its no problem at all. I want to do this," he gave her a small smile.  
"Still, thank you," she smiled back at him.

She really couldn't explain it. But she felt like she belonged with it. It did feel a bit soon considering she just met him two days ago. Yet, he was doing so many things for her. Like taking care of her, buying her things. Letting her stay in his house (with his very loud brother, but that didn't matter). She felt so grateful. So much that she didn't know what she would do if he didn't meet her. Even for meeting a boy two days ago, he was really hot. And his shades made him look very mysterious. Which she really liked.

"So, dinner?" he asked  
"Nah, lets wait a bit," she smiled as she stretched. "I'm gonna go take a shower," she said as she grabbed her towel.  
"Don't fall this time," he said, smirking.  
"Shut up," she said, giving him a slight shove as she walked pass him, giving him a smile before walking into the bathroom.

Dave's eyes followed her as she walked out of the bedroom. He had to admit, she was absolutely the most adorable girl he's ever seen. And he saw that she trusted him. Even from what she's been through, it must have taken a lot. He wasn't the 'best' guy ever. He always wore sunglasses (for a good reason). He always had a smug look on his face, never really shown his emotions to anyone BUT Terezi. It was kinda his thing. He was raised by his Bro to seem like an emotionless dick. Not Dirk but his actual Bro. His big brother that raised both Dave and Dirk. That man had passed because of an event at a shooting. He would never forget it.

Dave ran a hand through his hair as he turned and walked out of his room. He decided to start cleaning out the guest room, since that was where she was going to be staying. He rolled up his sleeves and opened the door.

Immediately the first thing that happened was the fall of many colorful smuppets. They all fell on top of him in a fast rush as he toppled over. He let out the most girlish scream as they did. Feeling the plush rumps glaze across his skin. Once they stopped falling, he pushed them all away and screamed. "DIRK!" The boy came running.  
"WHAT?!"  
"Did you make a shit ton of these fucking things fall on me when I opened the door?!"  
"…no," Dirk said, his face dropped, as did Dave's.

It was months ago when their big brother died. Dave was just a rookie, not even a full cop yet. It was a night when it was the youngest Strider's first outing. Dirk tagged along as Bro led the team. He had high hopes for them. The call was about bank robbery. A group of men with masks over their faces held the place down. Ten to twenty people were being held hostage as the team showed up.

When it was about 15 minutes in, Bro got impatient and took a few, well bodied men in with him. That was when Dave and Dirk heard the bang and rushed inside. Bro was on the ground, bleeding from his stomach and the men with masks were being arrested by the other cops. Dave and Dirk tried their best to save him. Dirk had fled to get a medic as Dave held him in his arms. Bro's last sentence was short, but meaningful. Dave had never made the attempt to tell anyone about it. He told Dirk that he died by saying good-bye. It was something he would never forget, no matter how long he'd live. He promised he'd make Bro proud. He had too..

It took both the Strider's to take out the smuppets. They decided to stash them in Dirk's room. Considering Dave was holding back so many tears, he didn't want Dave to break down every time he opened his closet. Dirk stored the poor things in his. Until they figured out what to do with the freaky things, they would live there.

Once that was done, Dirk went to go make something to eat as Dave stayed in the room and cleared the rest of the garbage. He made the bed perfectly as he went over to the closet. He was scared to open it, in fear of another waterfall of smuppets. Yet, he opened the closet to find absolutely nothing inside of it. Did Bro even use this? No wait, there were things, here. Dirk's old CD's, Bro's old swords and… wait, a second. Was that his old guitar? Shit, it was.

Dave reached into the closet and pulled out a rather dusty, tan acoustic guitar. Wow, he hadn't seen this thing since he was a teenager. He gave up on it when Bro got him the turn tables for his 14th birthday. Bro must have saved it. Maybe he was going to sell it if they didn't have enough money for other shit. But here it was, a bit worn down from the years in the closet, but Dave set it in playing position as he tuned it.

Yup, it seemed Dave never forgot the lessons he was taught when he was 12. He played a simple tune to warm up. Ode to Joy. The first song he learned. He sat on the bed as he finished playing. Once the song was over, he was thinking about something else that he should play. A song dawned on him as he played the first couple notes. Then he started singing. It was his favorite song by 3 Doors Down.

Jade was out of the shower and now drying her hair. It took her a while before she suddenly heard the sounds of acoustic music drift through the house. Or, apartment. She smiled softly as she got changed into bed attire as walked out of the bathroom. She followed the sound of it as she heard Dave singing.

"Well I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind. I left my body laying somewhere in the sands of time. But I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon. I feel there's nothing I can do… Yeah.." The words poured out of his mouth naturally. The didn't skip nor did they stutter. She could hear the emotion in the words. It was practically music to her ears.

The song continued as she pushed open the door slightly, leaning in. "I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon. After all I knew it had to be something to do with you. I really don't mind what happens now and then. As long as you'll be my friend at the end." He took a deep breath, but his fingers never stopped playing the tune. She heard the guitar increase in the volume as she noticed he was getting to the chorus.

"If I go crazy then will you still call me superman? If I'm alive and well will you be there, holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman.. Might. Kryptonite." He started tapping his foot on the floor as he got lost in the song. While his fingers ran across the strings, he closed his eyes. He didn't noticed Jade standing in the doorway. Hearing him sing.

"You called me strong, you called me weak. But still your secrets I will keep. You took for granted all the times I never let you down. You stumbled in and bumped your head. If not for me then you'd be dead. I picked you up and put you back on solid ground." Suddenly, Jade was feeling a sort of connection to this song. He saved her from Gamzee, he was the reason that she was still alive. He was helping her as much as he could. He cared about her… a lot.

"If I go crazy then will you still call me superman? If I'm alive and well, will you be there, holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might. Kryptonite." The door opened a bit more as she sighed happily, her damp hair pressed against her back. She pushed her glasses further up her nose as she smiled.

"If I go crazy then will you still call me superman? If I'm alive and well, will you be there, holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might. Kryptonite." His voice sounded like it was meant to be this way. She didn't really understand it, (nor could she explain it) but she loved his voice. His singing voice, that is.

He took a deep breath and sung the last chorus. "If I go crazy then will you still call me superman? If I'm alive and well, will you be there, holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might." he did a little guitar solo to himself. "Kryptonite…"

Once Dave finished the song, he looked up at Jade. Surprised by the fact she was just chilling there, eyes closed. "Oh, hey," he said to her as he shifted and set the guitar on the bed.

"That was a nice song," she said softly, opening her bright green eyes and looking at him.  
"Its one of my favorite songs that I made myself learn while I was a kid." He replied to her.  
"You have a nice singing voice." She gave him a smile before looking at the room.

The room was about the size of Dave's. A bed, a closet, a desk. Almost everything she needed for living. A dresser sat beside a window. And the window even led out to a fire escape. Maybe she could make a small little garden there. If she had the time.

"Thanks." Dave said as he looked around. "Don't normally sing for a lot of people. I was kinda hoping no one was around…"  
"Oh!" Jade squeaked, slowly backing away. "I guess you want to be alone. I'll, uh, get out of your hair." She turned around and was about to scurry back to Dave's room before he caught her attention.  
"No! Wait, you can… you can stay. I don't mind." He tried to give her a smile of reassurance, but that didn't work if she was turned around.  
"Are you sure? I mean, I can leave you alone if you want to practice your guitar." Jade responded with as she turned back around. Seeing his smile, she knew it was alright. She pretty much marked that smile as the sign of 'everything is gonna be okay.' She trusted him was all.  
Dave smiled. "Any requests?" he asked, tapping the guitar softly.  
"Uhmmm." She said, walking back in and stilling next to him. "Cactus in the valley?"  
"Hmm, I think I know that song. Isn't it a duet?"  
She blushed. "Yeah, it is."  
"Sing it with me?"  
"I don't sing…"  
"Come oooon." He pushed her gently.  
"Hng." She playfully groaned.  
"It won't be _that_ bad. I mean, I'm the only one here? Its not like there's an entire fucking audience in the closet awaiting to hear your beautiful singing voice."  
"You haven't even heard me sing!"  
"Which gives me every reason to want to."

This made her smile. Was he flirting with her? Why would he? She was a broken girl, yet he was fixing her within every hour. She now had trust issues around men, and he was the most trusted guy in her life right now. She was terrified of the world, so she stuck by his side. Did Dave maybe… like her? No, that can't be. It really can't. They only met a few days ago. But if he was really doing all these things _for her._ And only her.

Her self argument was interrupted as he waved his hand in front of her face. "Helloooo? Earth to Harley? You in there?"  
She blinked. "Uh yeah, sorry."  
"So, wanna sing?"  
"Uhhhhhh."  
"Please?" He flashed her a smirk. "Its just me. And I know you. You're like an open book to me. Letting me hear you sing would make my day."  
"I… I guess…"  
"Awesome!" He said as he strummed a simple tune before cuing her in.

Jade took a deep breath and started to sing. "I never meant to wither. I wanted to be tall. Like a fool, left the river. And watched my branches fall. Old and thirsty; I longed for the flood to come back around. To the cactus in the valley that's about to crumble down. And wipe the mark of sadness from my face.. Show me that your love will never change.. If my yesterday is a disgrace… Tell me that you still recall my name.." her voice was soft and sweet. Holding out the notes for the right amount of time and taking breath when needed. She had a beautiful singing voice. Yet she never really sung… a lot.

Now it was Dave's turn. "So the storm finally found me, and left me in the dark. In the cloud around me, I don't know where you are. If this old world goes up in arms all I can do is stand. And I won't fight for anyone… until you move my hand. And wipe the mark of madness from my face. Show me that your love will never change. If my yesterday is a disgrace. Tell me that you still recall my name."

Jade soon took up the next part of the song. "Oh here… In the shadows, here I am, and I need someone by my side.."  
"It becomes so… hard to stand… and" Dave said before both of them took the next line. "I keep trying to dry my eyes."  
"Come and find me." Dave sung.  
"In the valley." Jade matched his note. "And wipe the mark of sadness from my face. Show me that your love will never change. If my yesterday is a disgrace. Tell me that you will recall my name." She sang as he tapped on guitar. Soon picking up the melody again.

Jade leaned in closer to him and sang with him. "And wipe the mark of madness from my face. Show me that your love will never change. If my yesterday is a disgrace. Tell me that you still recall my name.." He finished up the song as he held out the last note, looking straight into her eyes. She gave him a soft smile. And he smiled back.

"You have a nice voice." He said, smirking.  
Jade blushed and straightened herself. "Uh, thanks. You too." She said, pushing hair out of her eyes, wrapping it around her ear.  
"You're a natural. Knew you could do it." He said while putting the guitar on the bed. "Don't deny it either."  
She giggled. "Thank you."  
"Welcome." He answered.  
He stood up and held his hand out for her. "Shall I escort you to bed, madam?" He asked formally. Making her giggle more.  
"You may." She said, taking his hand and standing up. He moved through the house to his room. Opening the door and leading her to his bed.  
"Here you are." he said as he let go of her hand and pulled back the covers. "All nice and warm for ya." He smiled.  
"Why thank you," she said as she sat on the bed, snuggling into the warmth. "I promise you'll get your bed back tomorrow." She said.  
"Yeah, because I'm sleeping in the guest room. Gonna make sure there's no ghosts in it. Ya know, just in case." He smirked. God, was he always this childish?  
"Whatever you say, Dave." She said. Laying down against the bed. "Good night."  
"Good night." and with that, he walked out, closing the lights and the door. Smiling and venturing into the guest room. Wow, that went better then he thought.

* * *

**SORRY ITS SO SHORT. I'm finishing this at 2 am. Hopefully its all good. The two songs I used for this chapter are called.**

**Kryptonite By Three Doors Down (acoustic)  
****Cactus in the Valley ft. Owl City - LIGHTS (Siberia Acoustic)  
****(again I own nothing but the story) **

**Both VERY good songs. I hope this chapter gives you the lovely feels that is needed for your heart. Also, no shout outs this time. Sorry! **

***gives you all hearts and love* **

**~Kitty **


End file.
